Case Update: ACLU says excluding male sex offenders from women’s prisons is discriminatory, unconstitutional
ACLU files brief arguing the state cannot deny men’s transfer requests due to “convictions or disciplinary history.”
On May 17, the ACLU et al. filed a brief in support of the state’s motion to dismiss the Chandler v. CDCR case. Last week, the ACLU moved to intervene in the case, and included some wild assertions about the existence of sex and the differences between men and women [Spoiler alert: the ACLU does not believe that male and female are legitimate categories]. This week the ACLU dug its heels in, moving to the core of its argument: that male sex offenders are entitled to be housed with women if they identify as “transgender, nonbinary, or intersex.”
The ACLU first responded to claims made by the Defendants (the state of California) in their initial motion to dismiss. The state had argued that WoLF’s case should be dismissed because CDCR can and will implement the law in a way that protects the women’s safety and ensures no constitutional violations. The ACLU disagrees, saying:
“Defendants do not have the wide discretion they claim: the text of SB 132 commands nothing less than full implementation, and the Constitution demands that incarcerated transgender people be protected from both cruel and unusual punishment and discrimination”
However, the ACLU knows, as does the state, that one-third of the men seeking transfers are sex offenders, and that sex offenders commit 50% of prison rapes. Using language from SB 132 itself, the ACLU states:
“Similarly, CDCR cannot deny a [man’s] transfer request based on [his] convictions or disciplinary history so long as it incarcerates cisgender[sic] women with similar records in its women’s prisons, as that would run afoul of the nondiscrimination provision. Id. This is no small limitation, and CDCR is further required to “certify in writing” its nondiscriminatory, “specific and articulable basis” for any denials. Id.”
Read the full brief here.
Despite the unavoidability of these troubling facts, the ACLU will nonetheless get as much help as they want in the friendly media to cover them up. The San Francisco Chronicle reached out for comment last week, and WoLF’s legal director sent them the following:
"This law has already subjected incarcerated women to sexual assault, abuse, and intimidation, in addition to the constant indignity of having to shower, undress, and use the toilet in front of men. Nearly 100 of the men seeking transfer to the women’s facilities are sex offenders, nearly all of them have intact penises, and the ACLU, Lambda Legal, and the Transgender Law Center have the nerve to call women “bigots” when they object to this. They can call us names all they want, but we will never stop fighting for the right to single-sex prisons."
However, this is what the SF Chronicle published:
“This law has already subjected incarcerated women to sexual assault, abuse and intimidation, in addition to the constant indignity of having to shower, undress and use the toilet in front of men,” Adams said. “The ACLU, Lambda Legal and the Transgender Law Center have the nerve to call women ‘bigots’ when they object.”
WoLF also objects to the lack of journalistic integrity that would lead an outlet to intentionally hide the fact that these are adult men, that a large number of them have a history of serious violence against women, and that they have the means to cause serious harm to women, including pregnancy and death.